Chapter 9: Have Vito Prepare the Coffin

"Matthew!"

"Are you out of your fucking mind? Do you know what you're doing?"

Before he could finish, an angry roar came through the phone.

It was James McRae—Director of the FBI's Chicago Field Office!

"Director McRae?"

Matthew's whole body tensed up, instinctively standing at attention.

"Right now, immediately, this instant! Listen carefully! Put down your weapons! Stand down! Let that man through!" James continued roaring.

Matthew froze. "But... Director McRae, Mr. Connor just ordered—"

"Mr. Connor? Who the hell is Mr. Connor! Do you know who you've surrounded? Do you have any fucking idea? Let me tell you! Just now, I got a call from the Pentagon!"

"...The Pentagon?"

Matthew's eyes went wide with disbelief.

The Pentagon! That's where the Department of Defense is located—the highest symbol of this country's military power!

So this was an order from the Pentagon? What the hell was Leo?

"That's right! The Pentagon! A Major General from the Special Operations Command called me personally and said one thing: If Matthew dares to fire a single shot at that officer, I'll personally bring people to Chicago and send him and whoever gave the order to a military tribunal!"

"What?"

Matthew felt like he must have heard wrong. A Major General from the Special Operations Command?

Called personally?

And referred to that young man as "officer"?

"Listen, Matthew. I don't know what that young man's real identity is, but anyone who can get a Pentagon Major General to personally make a call on their behalf is absolutely not someone you or I can afford to mess with. Stand down immediately! You hear me?"

"Yes... Yes, sir!"

Matthew was drenched in cold sweat, his hand gripping the satellite phone, trembling violently.

He finally understood.

If they'd actually opened fire, when the Pentagon came after them, the first to die would be him—the team captain who executed the order!

Robert would just need to claim "subordinates acted on their own" and wash his hands clean of it.

And he wouldn't even have a body left to bury.

"Robert... you bastard!"

Matthew cursed Robert a dozen times in his head.

He looked at the satellite phone in his hand, then at the young man leisurely smoking his cigar, his heart pounding.

Who the hell was this guy?

"Captain! Mr. Connor is asking why you haven't fired yet!"

His deputy reminded him anxiously, holding the still-squawking radio.

"Matthew! Are you fucking deaf?! I'm ordering you to shoot! Shoot now!"

Robert's hysterical voice came through the radio.

Just then.

A slender hand reached past Matthew and took the radio from his assistant's hand.

It was Leo.

He had somehow walked right up to Matthew, and not a single officer around them dared to stop him.

Matthew stood frozen in place, watching as Leo brought the radio to his ear.

"Robert?"

Leo's voice was calm, yet carried a chilling coldness.

"You... you're... Leo?"

On the other end, Robert's voice instantly became terrified.

"It's me."

Leo exhaled a puff of smoke, a cold smile playing at his lips. "I heard you really want to die?"

"You... you..."

Robert was shaking with rage at this naked humiliation.

For over a decade in Chicago, who dared talk to him like this?

"Arrogant! Who do you think you are? You really think you alone can take on the entire Romano family!"

Robert screamed into the radio!

"Don't get worked up, I haven't gotten around to you yet."

Leo took a drag of his cigar, cutting him off. "Let me give you some advice. Right now, immediately, call your godfather master. Tell Vito to get his coffin ready. Because... I'm coming for him."

Robert's voice had completely changed pitch—terror, rage, disbelief, all mixed together.

"Who do you think you are?! Vito is Chicago's godfather! Oak Brook Estate is impregnable! You think you alone..."

"Just watch."

Leo finished speaking and tossed the radio back to Matthew.

Robert's hysterical roaring continued.

"Matthew! I order you..."

Matthew took a deep breath, looked at Leo, then at the satellite phone in his hand, and unleashed on the radio: "Fuck you! You idiot, you almost got me killed!"

"Matthew, I'm going to have you removed from your position! I'll..."

Matthew didn't listen anymore and just turned off the radio.

He turned around, looking at the officers still holding their guns with confused expressions, and bellowed: "Everyone retreat!"

"What?"

His deputy looked confused.

The surrounding officers were all stunned.

"I said retreat!"

Matthew roared at the top of his lungs. "Put away your guns! Get in the cars! Leave immediately! That's an order!"

"But Mr. Connor..."

"Don't listen to him!"

Matthew shoved his deputy aside and yelled at all the officers: "Everyone, pull back! Who dares disobey orders from the Pentagon?"

The officers looked at each other.

The Pentagon?

Though they didn't understand, they could tell whose orders to follow.

Without further hesitation, they quickly holstered their weapons and ran to their vehicles.

Matthew looked at Leo one last time, hesitated, then steeled himself to speak: "Um... sir, do you... Need any assistance?"

He knew he was sucking up.

But he had no choice.

Anyone who could get the Secretary of Defense to personally make a call was definitely not someone a small police captain could afford to offend.

If he hadn't instinctively wanted to verify the order just now, delaying those few seconds until that satellite call came through...

He might have already made an unforgivable mistake.

At the thought, Matthew felt a wave of fear.

Leo glanced at him and said flatly:

"No need. Get lost."

"Yes, sir!"

Matthew felt like he'd been granted amnesty and quickly turned to run to his vehicle.

In less than thirty seconds.

Dozens of police vehicles roared to life, turned around, and rapidly retreated.

Leo stood alone in the middle of the empty highway, exhaling smoke, watching the hastily departing convoy, a faint smile on his lips.

"Smart move."

State Capitol Building.

Lieutenant Governor's Office.

"Useless! A bunch of useless idiots!! Matthew! You bastard!"

Robert watched the police convoy retreating in panic on the screen, so angry he could explode.

He grabbed the coffee cup from his desk and smashed it on the floor, shards flying everywhere.

Robert grabbed his private phone. "Fine, you all dare to disobey! I'll make you pay!"

Since he couldn't count on the police, he had to immediately notify the godfather—that lunatic Leo was really coming for him!

Before he could dial.

The office door was kicked open!

The heavy oak door shattered, splinters flying.

Seven or eight agents in black tactical gear, armed with submachine guns, stormed in like wolves.

Leading them was a cold-faced man with a gleaming badge on his chest.

FBI—Federal Bureau of Investigation.

"You... who are you, people? This is the Lieutenant Governor's office! You don't have a warrant, you can't..."

Robert backed away in terror, knocking over the chair behind him.

"Robert."

The cold-faced man expressionlessly pulled out a document, his voice icy. "FBI Anti-Corruption Division. You're suspected of bribery, abuse of power, harboring criminal organizations, and thirty-seven other charges. We're now placing you under arrest according to the law. You have the right to remain silent, but everything you say can and will be used as evidence."

"Impossible! This is impossible!"

Robert fell to the floor, shaking his head frantically.

"My dealings with the Romano family were all top secret! For twenty years, no evidence has fallen into outsiders' hands! How could you possibly know?"

The man held up a thick file folder and sneered. "Twenty years of dirt. Every transaction, every call record, every secret agreement... It's all here. Someone organized it all very neatly for you, in triplicate. Submitted separately to the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the Congressional Oversight Committee."

Robert's face went deathly pale, and his whole body felt like it had fallen into an ice cellar.

Who?

Who else could it be!

Leo!

That young man...

That young man, he thought, was just some desperate criminal with a bit of power...

Actually had the ability to submit his evidence through Pentagon channels to the federal justice system?

Who the hell was he?

"Take him away."

The cold-faced man waved his hand impatiently.

Two agents stepped forward and unceremoniously cuffed Robert's hands behind his back.

"No! No! You can't arrest me!"

Robert struggled desperately, screaming at the top of his lungs.

"I need to make a call! I need to call the godfather! Have the godfather come save me!"

"The godfather?"

The cold-faced man stopped and looked back at him, a mocking smile on his lips.

"You mean Vito?"

"Let me tell you something."

"From now on, you'll never get through to him again."

Robert's whole body trembled. "...What do you mean?"

The cold-faced man lowered his voice and said seriously.

"Because someone's paying him a visit today."

"And after that person arrives..."

"Whether Vito will even be alive to answer the phone is anyone's guess."

Hearing this.

Robert's pupils contracted sharply, his whole body shaking violently.

He remembered that young man standing on Route 94, surrounded by dozens of guns, completely unfazed.

Remembered those eyes, cold as an abyss.

Oak Brook Estate...

The fortress the Romano family had built over thirty years...

Over a hundred armed personnel, impregnable...

No one could break through...

"Take him!"

Two agents lifted the limp Robert and dragged him toward the door.

Robert looked back at the gray sky outside the window, his eyes full of despair.

Chicago's sky... was really about to change.

Route 94.

On the empty road after the police withdrew, Leo flicked his cigar and exhaled the last puff of smoke.

Behind him, the M113 armored vehicle slowly approached and stopped beside him.

Olivia stuck her head out the window and said respectfully, "Boss, the road's clear."

"OK."

Leo nodded, his gaze fixed on the end of the highway.

There—that was the direction of Oak Brook Estate.

Vito.

The uncrowned king of Chicago's underworld for thirty years.

Today would be his last day.

Leo leaped onto the armored vehicle, his voice ice-cold.

"Move out."

"Target—Oak Brook Estate."

The engine roared.

The steel beast rolled across the empty highway, roaring toward that dark fortress that had stood for thirty years.